Tea, S.D. (KELO.com) – The Bureau of Reclamation announced late yesterday that the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System’s total funding from the FY18 Budget will be $14.875 million.
By comparison, Lewis & Clark received $9.15 million in the FY17 Budget.
“This funding increase is great news! A big thank you to the Bureau of Reclamation and the tristate congressional delegation for their efforts on Lewis & Clark’s behalf,” said Executive Director Troy Larson.
The funding will be used to construct the segment of pipeline between Beresford and the Big Sioux River, which is just under 15 miles.
“We will not know until the bids are opened in August if we have enough to construct the entire segment, but it should be close,” said Larson. Future phases of construction will get the pipeline to Sioux Center, Iowa.
The Trump administration originally proposed $3.65 million for Lewis & Clark in the FY18 budget. The tristate congressional delegation then worked hard, according to Larson, to secure an additional $48 million for Reclamation’s Rural Water Program.
It was announced this past February that a bipartisan budget agreement was reached adding $10 billion in infrastructure funding to the FY18 budget. Larson says the tristate delegation then urged appropriators to direct a portion of these funds to the Rural Water Program. Through these efforts, Larson says another $18.5 million was directed to the Rural Water Program, bringing the total additional funding for the Rural Water Program to $66.5M.
Larson says because of the earmark ban, which includes fully vetted authorized projects like Lewis & Clark, after President Trump signed the FY18 Budget on March 23 the Bureau of Reclamation then had 45 days to determine how to allocate the $66.5 million in additional funding among five authorized rural water projects.
Reclamation allocated $11.225 million to Lewis & Clark. Along with the $3.65 million proposed by the administration, this brings total funding for FY18 to $14.875 million.
Source: Lewis and Clark Regional Water System